When Do We Hold an Individual Accountable?

Again, let’s begin with the answer to the question in this lesson’s title: when the individual’s contribution is clearly defined and the expectations are clearly set.

It’s often easy to identify when a team member didn’t get the story done in time, which in turn created a cascading series of missed deadlines leading to the project missing its overall deadline. Remember, however, that software development is still a team sport—even if it’s clear who missed the tackle, the whole team is the one that takes the loss when the game is over. Holding the individual accountable is important, to be sure, but it cannot end there. If that person couldn’t get the story done in time, ask “why?” Was the story too difficult? Was there additional complexity that wasn’t called out during planning and estimation? Were there extenuating circumstances that meant the amount of time available to finish the story was significantly reduced?

In my role as a guest lecturer at the University of Washington in Seattle, I’ve had the opportunity to see many software developers at the very earliest stage of their career, and one of the things I’ve learned is this: one of the hardest things for any software developer to learn to do is ask for help. This, then, becomes one of the things to which I hold my individual team members accountable: As soon as you know you’re in trouble, your job is to throw your hand in the air and shout “Help!”

Many of the various problems that arise out of individual accountability start from a basic problem—a developer doesn’t realize how deep they’re in trouble until it’s wildly too late. If there’s one thing I will most often insist upon for individual accountability, it’s this: ask for help when you need it.

Additionally, you’ll often find the elements we discussed in “The Need for Clear Expectations” reappear here, though usually they are contributing factors to an overall concern. If a developer doesn’t have all the skills listed on a job description, for example, I don’t consider that an individual failure. But if that individual is supposed to be taking a course to learn more about a missing skill and doesn’t, we have a problem. Put another way, clear expectations help create clear accountability—one drives the other.